


Broken Pattern

by Arcanista



Series: Holding Pattern [12]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Family, Gen, Hugs, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, Present Tense, Redemption, This Is Our Get-Along Shirt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 11:32:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5538296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcanista/pseuds/Arcanista
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The difference between forgiveness and redemption is that the unforgivable might still be redeemed. Start with trust, and place faith in the sincerity of others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _In the hour of our twilight..._   
>  _And soon it will be all said and done, and we will all be back together, as one..._

They wake up somewhere soft and cozy, with a big fluffy blanket overtop of them. It takes them a few seconds to realize they're in a bed; they'd been sleeping on Sans and Papyrus' lumpy old couch for long enough now that they almost forgot what a bed feels like. They take some time to enjoy the feeling before opening their eyes.

The ceiling above them is familiar. They squint through the blur, trying to place the view. Their old bed, they conclude, after a moment of waffling on the subject. But whose? The view seems off, and it's not just from the blur. Asriel's, he decides, looking at a patch on the ceiling. They decide. Hm. They're probably going to have to work something out that way. Never thought about _that_ when they came up with this plan. Later works, though. Not really important right now.

They lift a hand and rub their forehead. Fingers are too short. No, they're not furry enough (or leafy enough? no, that's being silly). No, they're fine. Is this going to be a problem? Just getting used to things, they think. Better to find out for sure when they get the chance.

Shirt has a cuff on it. That feels kind of weird after all those t-shirts. They look at the sleeve, feel it with the fingers of their other hand. Jammies. Not any of theirs. That's good, they decide. That would be weird. Even if dad still has that same old sweater from way back when. (dad? Asgore. No, dad. Better if it's Asgore. But mistakes are probably okay. If they're not out loud)

Paper rustles next to them. They're not alone? Well, why would they be? They lower their hand slowly and turn their head, resting their cheek on the pillow.

There's Sans, sitting on a chair next to the bed, thumbing through a magazine. He's pretending not to pay attention to them. Probably made that noise to let them know he's there. They rub their forehead again. So there's a lot of things to get used to, then. They smile. Ugh, do they need to feel smug at _themself_?

Apparently they do, and that just makes them smugger. Great.

Sans flips a page, still acting like he hasn't noticed them. Something weird about the way he's holding his fingers. Hard to tell exactly. Easier if they could see more clearly. Easier if he wasn't paying really close attention. He's tense, then. Not sure what to expect. They should say something.

They rub their eyes and say, voice coming out kinda muzzy, "Sans...?"

He waits a few seconds, then folds the magazine back and puts it on top of the shelf. He turns more toward them, saying quietly, "Heya, kiddo. How're you doing? You kinda spooked us there." He leans over to brush some hair out of their face. Maybe he hesitates, but it's hard to tell.

Doesn't really matter to them if he did. They close their eyes long enough to take a big, slow breath, and to decide not to answer the question. "Sorry. I didn't want to scare anyone." They stop and run their tongue around their mouth. Was that tooth loose before? Maybe. No, they're not doing the door and string trick. Absolutely not. "Not very sleepy anymore," they add. "How long was it...?"

Sans changes how he's sitting, like he's getting himself more comfortable. Or trying to decide how to answer. He shrugs. "Couple days, give or take. I mean, it's not like anybody here knows a _ton_ about humans, but it looked like you were just sleeping. We hoped. Nobody knew when you'd wake up, and you didn't look hurt so we took you inside... r. Been taking turns watching. So how're you feeling?"

They lift both hands and hold them close in front of their face. They curl and uncurl their fingers, one at a time. The truth, they decide again. "A little weird. What happened?"

"You deserve that answer, kiddo," says Sans, scratching the back of his skull. "But I'm gonna ask you to answer it yourself first. It'll help to know where you're at. Don't wanna tell you stuff you already know, y'know?"

There's no good reason not to tell him. He won't be happy if they lie, or keep changing the subject. And they don't want to disappoint him at all. And he knows about souls. Kind of. Still annoyed about how he went messing around like that. But it worked out, right? "Okay," they say, and put their hands down onto the bed. They push and sit up, a little bit too fast and they get dizzy.

Sans leans in and stacks up the pillows behind them so they can lean back. "Take your time. You want something to drink, or something? A snack, maybe? Probably not much of either until you've been awake longer."

Might be better to wait on that. They get comfier against the pillows. "It's okay," they say. "Um, maybe later. So, um. We found you, and we talked. Do you... remember that?"

"I think everyone's a little foggy on what happened there," says Sans. "But the gist, yeah. You had someone with you, didn't ya?"

They wave a hand around the room, and say, "Asriel." They don't know what it sounds like coming out. Normal, hopefully. "Um, we went and we found everyone else after you. Undyne, and, and-- the king, and Alphys, and your brother. Then, um, we figured that, um, because of the soul stuff... the one who put everyone there in the dark was just with... me all along. So I called out."

Sans tilts his chair back on two legs. "Makes sense, I guess," he says. "So, uh, I guess they were pretty nasty to you. How bad of a knock-down drag-out was it?"

But Sans already knew they were going to try to talk their way out of it first, didn't he? He wouldn't forget that much. They rub their forehead, trying to work out why he's asking that. He's keeping asking them questions. He knows about souls. Does he know what Alphys told them? Maybe. If he didn't before, he probably does now. He's trying to figure out who he's talking to. Trying to do it without scaring them, they think. That seems like a fair thing for him to be doing. "Wasn't a fight," they say. "Not like that, anyway. Alphys told me that, that because of how we're stuck together, we had to not be fighting all the time. Or else our soul would just kind of come apart into some sort of nobody-goo."

"She put it like that?" Sans winces. He knew already, then. "So'd you work something out?"

"More or less," they say. "We, we talked. I think if Asriel wasn't there, they would've just forced the issue." They rub their forehead. Okay, so they're not exactly fine with knowing some of these things. Little late now. "But he was, and they didn't want to upset him. Any further. They're friends still. But it got complicated. Nobody really wanted to be nobody. So we talked." They sound nervous repeating themself like this. Well, they _are_ nervous. He won't mind. "I ended up remembering what you said. About how maybe Asriel woke up as the flower. That maybe there was a little bit of the same soul as got into me."

Sans nods, and reaches into his hoodie. He pulls out a can of soda and cracks it open, taking a drink. "Yeah, I remember saying something like that. Still no way to know if it's true or not, not without him or the flower. And nobody saw any flowers after the dust settled."

"No," they say, looking at the backs of their hands. They watch as whatever's under the skin moves, when they curl their fingers. "You wouldn't have. I asked Asriel, because, because otherwise he'd have become the flower again, if he would come, too. Because that was the only way they would agree. Because I don't think we could have gotten along, not well enough, without him. I was scared. He was scared. We all were scared-- _yes_ we _were_. So we. Here we are. Here I am. Then I put things back and I opened the barrier and I let the souls go and that was that."

"Here you are," says Sans. He rubs his fingers against the can and takes another drink, but he watches them the whole time. "So who'm I talking to? You did remember to pick up a name while you were out grabbing milk and eggs, yeah?"

Well, they knew that was going to come up eventually. Gonna have to answer him. Gonna have to _have_ an answer for him. But there's only one answer that it can be, isn't there? If they need to keep it a secret from, from the king. "Frisk," they say. "It's Frisk. And Asriel and-- and Chara too. But, I'm Frisk. I think it would hurt-- the king otherwise. And that's what it was before I took the name away from me. If, if you want to know if I'm the same person that you helped... not exactly. But also yes. It's hard to describe. We're all here. And it's not like hearing voices or anything. I think... I think if someone wanted to fight they could try. But we're trying to cooperate. We're trying to be good."

Sans finally relaxes. Not all the way, but something about what they said seems to have satisfied him. Hard to say what part. "That's rough, kid," he says. "Probably a good call, keeping it from the king. And I guess that can't have been easy to decide, either. Is it okay if I bring Alphys up to speed? It'd be a good idea if we got her to check out your soul now. Properly, I mean. No running away."

Frisk nods up at Sans, taking a breath. "That makes sense," they say. "She should probably know."

"Okay," he says. "But that can wait. I'll bring you up to speed, but first..." Sans holds out his left hand to them. "Nice to meet you, Frisk."

They know exactly what's coming. But they reach out with their left (which do they write with now? figure it out later) hand too and slide their hand into Sans' to shake, and-- _pthbbbbbbbthbbbbbbbbbtttttttt_ \-- they giggle all the same, even expecting it. "Hi, Sans," they say.

* * *

Sans slips the whoopee cushion away, finishes his drink and puts the can on the shelf behind him. Well, the kid-- Frisk-- doesn't seem to be a threat, at the very least. Putting on a brave face, but who wouldn't be spooked by what happened? They're changed, too. Alert in ways they weren't before. They're paying pretty close attention to him, avoiding questions they don't want to answer, all that. Still squinting; he needs to see about getting them glasses or something. Alphys probably has an idea how to swing that, he figures.

He turns back to face Frisk, who's definitely watching him closely, even as they're still smiling from the gag. "Okay, after that. Well, you definitely opened up the barrier, and the souls were gone by the time everyone oriented themselves. You let them go, yeah? There a problem? I mean I guess you're mostly human, so there's that."

Frisk leans back, resting their head gingerly on the headboard. "Um. We ended up deciding-- fine, _most_ of us ended up deciding before we did anything that I shouldn't keep them. Um. Being able to do anything at all I want probably doesn't go well with trying to be good. I don't really trust me as a god."

Well, neither does Sans, but he's not going to say that. Anyway, if Frisk made that decision on their own it's likely a decent sign going forward. "So, the barrier's open. Right now nobody knows but those of us who were right there and a couple of the king's advisers. Seems like what happened affected a lot more than just us, but only the people you actually talked to remember anything of it. Just a lot of people with a very foggy few minutes. Doesn't sound like anyone got hurt."

"Good," says Frisk. They look closely at their sleeve, rubbing at the cuff between their fingers. "That's good. I wouldn't like if, if anyone got hurt because of me. Anyone else, anyway. Not that I like that-- well, you know."

Sans runs his fingers down the back of his skull, nodding. "I getcha. So they're trying to figure out the best way to break the news to people. Not to mention how to figure out how to not spook all the humans out there. Glad I don't gotta make those decisions. Whatever happened to that wanting them all to die then?"

Frisk lets go of their sleeve and begins a careful examination of their fingertips. "It's not that I think it was ever a bad idea," they say. "I still think it's probably the best idea. I think you don't really know anything about humans, not the way I do. The way we do. That was a part of the plan that I never needed to hide from myself, you know. Because I knew that I'd agree. But-- you're right that it's not something I should get to decide. So what happened is that it's not going to happen. That's, that's probably not what you wanted to hear. Sorry."

"What I wanted to hear is that you're not gonna go off again," says Sans. He sighs and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "And you did say that much, so yeah. Look, kiddo, I know things've been rough on you. I don't expect you to turn around and be fine with what happened to you, whatever it was." He extends his hand back to Frisk, saying, "If you need to talk about it, or about that exception you mentioned... I guess I'm good for it."

They close their eyes, and reach out, setting their hand in his. Frisk holds on tight and squeezes, then opens their eyes again. They don't give him any time to object, just climb out of bed and plop themself on his lap. "I want to," they say, pressing their cheek on his shoulder. "But not yet. I'm definitely not ready to talk about mom yet. A lot of that's... really hard to remember, anyway. And I remember a lot of different things now too. Not all at once but if I think-- I know more."

Sans sighs onto Frisk's head and pulls his arms up and around them. "Take your time. You've been through a lot'f stuff."

"What's going to happen to me?" says Frisk into his hoodie. "About the stuff I did, I mean."

"Hoo boy," says Sans, giving Frisk a squeeze. "That, you know, I think it's going to be up to the king to decide. If you want to know what I think he's planning for you... I dunno. He hasn't said. That's not exactly comforting, I know. Not a lot of people actually know what you did. I don't think that's gonna change."

He's about to explain for Frisk, but they pipe up to say, "It would just... scare them. And they're probably already going to be scared. Nobody really expected the barrier to open while they were alive. Hoped for it, but never believed in it. So what I did... it's just going to be a bad thing that happened. Not something with a face."

Sans lets out a whistle. One of the others? Or is that not giving the Frisk he met first enough credit? Probably pointless to try and figure it out. "More or less, yeah. There's still people who know who you are-- Papyrus wasn't exactly keeping things secret, especially early on. But a lot of that's already handled. Do you think you can deal with that?"

"Guess I'm gonna have to," says Frisk. "It doesn't seem right, but, but, I guess it's the best thing that can be done. But I, I don't like it. What I did-- I _decided_ to do it. I decided more now than I ever did before. And I did other things, too. That don't count exactly because I reset everything. Over and over and over again. So they never happened. But I've done all of those things. So if we're going to act like it didn't happen..."

Whatever Frisk is now, whoever they are, however many of them they are in here, that alone's enough to convince Sans that they're mostly just a kid in a bad way. He pushes the hair back from their face and says, "Look, kiddo, there's one thing that's important for you to learn. And maybe you won't yet and that's fine. But there's not much out there that's all or nothing. Keeping what you did from people who'll only be hurt by knowing it isn't the same as acting like it didn't happen. If you don't get that, can you at least trust that I believe what I'm saying?"

Frisk lifts their head, looking up into his face, holding it for longer than they ever did before that change. "I, I guess. If you say it's not going to be ignored... I can believe that." They put their forehead back on his shoulder. "I don't have anywhere to go. If, if the king doesn't decide something that would stop it... I, I want to stay with you, and Papyrus."

"Oh, kiddo," says Sans, giving Frisk another squeeze with both arms. "I dunno how it's all gonna work out with the barrier open and all that. But you know I'm not gonna kick you out. And my brother'd find you and bring you back and give me a piece of his mind if I tried. But, geez. You need a _bed_ at the very least. That couch isn't meant for sleeping on."

They tilt their head so he can see a smile. "I like it," they say. "Or at least I'm used to it. This feels too soft, even if it's-- familiar, too."

Sans laughs and pats Frisk's cheek. Probably some stuff worth asking them insofar as that resetting everything business, but that can wait. They're obviously not on the verge of doing it and he's not gonna drag the kid back down into the heavy stuff. "We'll figure something out. Get off now, okay? I should let the others know you're up. You want a book or something while you wait?"

He helps Frisk settle back onto the bed, and doesn't bother pulling the covers up. Sans rummages around in his hoodie pockets until he comes up with a book of word searches, and a lone burnt sienna crayon.

* * *

Alphys is nervous. Obviously. But uniquely so, looking at them from the other side of the elevator and trying not to sweat. Sweating is one of those things you really can't stop for wanting to. Frisk can't find it in themself to blame her for it.

They wish they didn't enjoy it. They wish they didn't know how easy it is to feel good and sick at the same time. Knowing she's nervous _because of them_? Because she doesn't know what they _might_ do? It's awful and wonderful all at once.

No wonder it's so easy to be bad. They look down at the floor instead, and speak, "I thought this was a bathroom?"

Alphys squeaks, and the shuffling sound they hear is almost like a jump. "Um, I mean, I said that, sure, but, uh."

Frisk doesn't look up. "Sometimes it's more important to lie," they say. "That's okay. But I was wondering where we're going. Why it needs to be a secret. Since I guess it isn't anymore. To me anyway."

"Well, it's, uh," Alphys starts but jerks to a halt when the elevator 'dings' and the doors open. She waves at Frisk to get out first, then follows, saying, "It's just more lab. And, uh, it's also where the, um. The-- amalgamates stay."

Frisk looks around the lobby, at the fake plants and the vending machine with chips so old they're covered in dust. "Amalgamates," they say aloud. They look down at the backs of their hands, at the bluish veins they can just barely see through the skin. "The ones like me." A thrill of alarm runs through them. "Where they _stay_. You won't try and make me stay. You _won't_."

"Urk," says Alphys. "Um, w-well they stay here b-because they're not really stable enough to, to..."

She's lying. Or at least not telling the whole truth. And they realize that they know how to open her entirely. It won't even take much work, and probably not even so much as a fib. They turn toward Alphys and take a step in her direction, then stop. "If it's not safe... I, I know I'm not exactly the same as them. But isn't that something I should know?"

Alphys fiddles with one of the fake leaves. "Uh, it's not that it's not safe. Um, most of them only get antsy if I'm late bringing food in. Some of them that, uh, that fought too hard, they can be a little clingy. But the others, I mean, there's a few who are together enough that I wouldn't worry about you. I mean that's why we're gonna take another look at your soul, just so we don't, um, we'll get the clearest signal if you're down here. And the cat's already out of the bag."

Frisk pulls their lower lip between their teeth, holds it, and releases. "Then are they-- stable, or are they not? If they are, do... do they have nowhere to go? What about me, I, I don't want to stay here. I, I don't. Not somewhere I can't leave. What if _I'm_ not stable after all?" They slide their hands up their arms, squeezing at their biceps. If they're not it'll probably be back to fighting. It's _important_ to know all this. If she doesn't want to tell them on her own, well, it's not that hard to make her change her mind.

"Let's... let's go answer that question first," says Alphys. "It's this way." She waves them along with her, and they follow, compliant for the moment.

If she does try to keep them here-- what then? They don't want-- no, they don't want what happened the last time they thought they were being kept in one place. Not that. It'll have to be talking their way out of it. But save that for now. Might not have to. But what is going on with the others? They might not be the same, but... it might be nice to meet someone like them, more or less.

Either way, best to back off for now, not to push her. This is a process, and they're going to have time down here while she gets her data off their soul. And they need to know that. They need to know what's to be found there. They need to _stay calm_ is what they need. But there's no real stopping those butterflies in their stomach. Ugh, they don't need to be this _nervous_ about things. But of course they do, if this goes wrong or it turns out the wrong thing happened. It didn't, though. It didn't. They felt _fine_ right up until they started thinking about what if it was actually wrong. It worked out fine and it doesn't need to get ruined because they're looking for excuses to start fighting again.

Ugh, thanks, _dad_. But they smile at that and only don't laugh because it would probably spook Alphys. They don't really want to do that.

"Over, over in here," says Alphys. She leads them into a small room thick with machines. A couple seats and barely enough room for both of them to stand. "I've, uh, got the next room over too for the ones who are too big but I think you should be fine here. Uh, sit down over there, this one's not gonna be completely wireless, sorry."

Frisk looks toward the door. They could duck past her if they needed, maybe. "What do you mean, not completely wireless?" No needles, they don't want to get poked with anything like that, they've had more than enough of that.

Alphys sits down in the chair beside them and reaches for one of the machines. She pulls something out by a cord, a little plastic-looking circle. "It's nothing weird, this is just gonna stick to the back of your hand. Hold it out for me? This'll just make everything go faster, we get more bandwidth with a direct connection. Uh, the way this works is the longer we record, the better we can sort and read what we get off your soul. But it'll go faster down here and with this."

It just seems like a way to keep them down here. But she's not a good enough liar for that to be untrue. They sigh and look at their hands. Frisk holds out their right hand, and Alphys presses that circle to the back. It feels a bit sticky and stays put, cord dangling between their middle and index fingers. She gives it a light tug and starts typing on a keyboard. One of the screens in front of them comes to life, and a few lights start blinking around the room.

"When we're done with this," Frisk says, glancing to the screen. They can't lean in close enough to see clearly so they look away after a few seconds. "I'd like to meet them. Why are the stable ones still here? Can... can they not take care of themselves? Do you still need to watch them? Will I..." They look down at the bench in front of them, taking a breath. They can get out of here if they need to. They can get out of here.

Alphys plugs away at the keyboard a little longer and turns to face them. "Um, Frisk. It's Frisk, right? I, uh. You probably won't need to stay here. I mean there's a chance but just looking at you there's a world of difference and I've gotten kind of used to identifying that much at least. Doing this is just gonna help-- it'll help us know what exactly's going on, and, uh, there was a lot of damage before so we need to see what's going on."

That's not... exactly reassuring. Especially with how she's avoiding every question they have except that particular one. "So why are they still here? If they're fine... why are they still here?" Pushing too hard? Maybe, probably not. The problem here is that she hasn't been pushed enough. But not much harder than this.

"I..." Alphys looks over at Frisk, then turns right back toward her monitor. She starts clicking through a lot of different screens that Frisk can't read well. "It's, um. Right now, it's, uh. It's mostly because they've been here long enough that... that what would people say? They're only here at all because they'd fallen down and were going to be dust soon and... I told their families I _saved_ them! And then this happened to them. I, I didn't know what I was doing. I... I ruined everything."

Ah. It's like that, then. They turn to face Alphys a little more, look up at her face and watch it, watch her sweat. "If it's safe to go, though... isn't now maybe a good time for it? People will be happy when they know about the barrier, and wouldn't that be-- be sort of a distraction? And, if, if they do have friends or families, wouldn't it be good to celebrate? I don't know what anyone else thinks, but... but this is better than being dead. I think we're all experts on that. It would take getting used to, but people might be... be happy." Their smile is shaky, doesn't move their whole mouth.

"Some of them don't have, um, much in the way of families anymore," says Alphys, turning even more to face the screen. "I mean, some of them were from Snowdin and... well, you know. It, I, I couldn't. They'd never forgive me, no one would."

"You kept them safe from me," says Frisk, closing their eyes. "That's not a bad thing. And there's a lot of things nobody knows about, about people like us. It's not a bad thing to have... it still happened, of course. And you can't make it not have happened. But you can try and do better now. And now's a good time to try and change, right?"

Alphys sighs, leaning forward onto her elbows. She leans over in front of Frisk and fiddles with some dials. "Maybe, I guess. It's-- it's more complicated than that, I think."

Frisk rubs the bench with their fingers, their free hand. They look down and watch the fingers work. "Maybe a lot of the stuff, um, surrounding is complicated. Like I get if there's a lot of work to it. But isn't the start just deciding that they really shouldn't be here?"

"Maybe," Alphys says. "I, I dunno. I need to think about it some more. Even if you're right, I would need to, to talk to the king about it first. Anyway, how are you feeling? How's moving for you?"

The seeds are planted well enough to just let that go for now. She'll do the right thing, they think. And these are probably important questions. "I feel pretty strange still. I think-- it sort of feels like everyone's sort of getting comfy? I'll know how to do things that only one of us know how to do, or things like that. That, um, it happens pretty smoothly even if I feel weird suddenly knowing things. Um, it feels more sudden if it's something that only Chara or Asriel knew. Oh, and, and sometimes one of us will definitely feel really strongly about something but the others won't. Or we'll all expect different things. Like Asriel was all furry... or leafy, I guess. And both Asriel and Chara were taller than I am now. And... older, I think? And I mean I think we don't get three different birthday parties. And then there's some, um, personal stuff. Where I don't think everyone matches up. Is that going to be a problem?" Then they remember the last thing she asked, and say, "Oh, moving is fine. And I definitely know what it feels like to be trying to move in more than one direction at once."

"Okay, good," says Alphys, and she starts typing, super-fast. "Movement's one of the hardest things to get right. Don't worry if you're a little bit clumsy sometimes. But if you're having big problems, like that feeling like you're trying to go in different ways at once, that can be a big sign something's about to go seriously wrong. Otherwise, um. I wouldn't worry too much if there's still bits of you that feel separate, or if you don't all feel the same way about things. You're all one person now, but the parts of you are still people, if that makes sense? It's okay if you don't all agree on everything. If nobody's trying to-- well, I guess you know what it feels like when someone's trying to take over. It should be fine as long as that's not happening, anyway. I think so, at least. We'll need to keep an eye on you over time, just to be sure." She types some more then pauses to push her glasses up her nose. "Um, let's see... If it sort of feels like the part of you that started as Frisk is the, uh, 'default' might be the best way to put it, that's fine. It's the original Frisk's body, and that soul is sort of the, uh, substrate for Chara's soul and Asriel's part of it."

Frisk makes a face. But that's still good to know. Or at least sort-of know. That's probably the best that can be had for now. Huh. Which of them knew what the word 'substrate' meant? "Okay. Okay, that sounds okay. I can... that helps a little. Um... can I meet the others once we're done here?"

"Um..." says Alphys. "Let me, uh, let me see how they're doing first. Nobody's actually used to guests."

One last thing to throw in there, on that subject. "Sounds lonely..."

Alphys looks back at the screen. She sighs. "Yeah... I'll talk to the king about it, okay? And I'm sure at least someone would be happy to visit."

* * *

There's no way _not_ to feel weird, sitting in the king's dining room like this. And it's weird to be sitting at the table with him, sharing a corner with a teapot in between them. But even with feeling strange being back here like this after so long, with feeling unsettled just how much this place is like the ruins was, it's still... nice? The fire makes everything cozy, and for dinner table chairs, the king's are super comfy. Big enough to slip out of their shoes, pull their feet up right underneath themself, and keep their toes curled up and warm.

"Just a little longer," says the king, peering inside the teapot. "Would you like some sugar in your tea?" He pulls one of the teacups over.

They run their tongue around their mouth, wiggling the loose tooth. This shouldn't be that hard of a decision. And yet... ugh, _someone_ has to decide. "Just one, please." But it'll be better with more sugar than that. No, it'll be better with no sugar at all. You'd think having three people would make them _less_ picky, not more. "Um, what kind of tea is it?"

"It is golden flower tea," says the king, spooning sugar into the cups; once for Frisk and twice for himself. "I dry the flowers myself. I hope that you enjoy it." He checks the teapot again, and then starts pouring. The tea comes out a deep red, enough like blood to make Frisk bite their lower lip for a second. The king stirs the sugar in, spoon tiny in his hand, clinking against the side of the cup.

If it's golden flower tea, does that mean drinking it is cannibalism? Oh, _no_. No, it doesn't. It doesn't mean that at all. Frisk takes the teacup when the king slides it over, and gives it a sniff. "Thank you," they say, and take a little sip. It's not too sweet and it's not not-sweet enough so they're right and everyone else is wrong. So there. "Um."

The king looks down into his teacup. "Yes. Um. I will admit, Frisk, that it has not been exactly easy deciding what would be best to do with you. On the one hand, you have destroyed the barrier that kept we monsters trapped down here in the underground for so long. On the other hand..."

Frisk looks into their teacup, gives it a shake. Watches that too-red tea ripple. "... on the other hand, I also destroyed everyone I came across between the ruins and Snowdin. I don't... whatever you decide is best, -- your m, -- mister Asgore."

"Best," says the king. He lets out a big, heavy, king-sized sigh. "If you could find me a 'best' answer for anything, little one... nothing you can do will ever bring those people back. And no matter how you felt at the time, you do not feel the same way now. And that is what matters."

There's one thing they could do that would bring them back. One thing. But-- what would happen if they tried? Would that put _everything_ back? Would everyone remember what happened? What if someone didn't? Would they stay together? Would it put Asriel back in the flower? If it didn't, would Flowey still be there or not? Would that make... extras? No, there's just too much they don't know. If even a single one of them is in the state they were back when Frisk fell, everything gets wasted. So they nod up at their dad, and they sigh.

The king nods back at them, and looks into his teacup. "Truly, I think there is not even a good option. But you are very young yet, and you have your whole life ahead of you. And there is a great deal of work ahead of all of us. It would do us well to have someone who knows of humans and their ways, and for you to help monsterkind."

Frisk sips their tea and looks past the cup at the table. "I don't think what I know about humans will be all that useful to you. I, um, had a pretty bad time. And my memory's not great. Still, I, I'd like to help. Somehow. What would you need me to do?"

"There may still be a lot you know without even realizing it," says the king. "But I understand if there are things you don't want to talk about. Once, I had a... I will save that story for another time. Still. My advisors say that simply seeing a human child in good spirits amongst us might calm the humans. What do you think of that?"

"It's-- it's a little scary," says Frisk. They finish their tea, gulping it down. "Um. Some people might think that's okay. Some people might not be convinced. But maybe some is a start? But-- but, I don't exactly, I don't think I could be around many people at once. And, um, with what I did? If anyone found out, the humans would-- that would really scare them. I mean, um, if you just need me to get looked at for that part of it, I think, I think I could manage. But if you want me to help, I think it would be best to find something else, too."

The king nods and finishes his tea too. "You're right. It is not a complete plan yet. There is still much to be decided. And it would still be best for you to still be supervised. You are still very young, after all."

Frisk bites their lower lip. "I, I was staying with Sans and Papyrus. Sans is a sentry and Papyrus is training really hard to be a royal guard. He-- he's the one who, who stopped me." They run their hands over the table, taking a breath. "If I could stay with them..."

"Those are the skeletons?" asks their dad. "I'll speak with them. I cannot make a promise on their behalf. But I see no reason to take away what you have done well with."

They don't even really need to think about it. Frisk slides up off the chair and moves around the corner of the table. The king blinks with surprise down at them, but he gives them the room they need to slide up onto his lap. Their dad wraps his arms tight around them, hugging just like they remember. "Thank you," says Frisk. "I don't deserve this, I--"

"Hush," says their dad, rubbing his hand lightly against their hair. "Everything will be all right."


	2. Supplemental

**One Graph, Notated**

 

** **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more.


End file.
